


Candlelight

by shiritori



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Isa and Lea don't know each other, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, modern/college au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 09:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21407848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiritori/pseuds/shiritori
Summary: In which Lea subverts social norms and asks a total stranger to split an overpriced meal with him.
Relationships: Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	Candlelight

**Author's Note:**

> hi this has legit been in my drafts in various states of completion for like a year so i decided to polish it up and post it tonight. i remember seeing a prompt ages ago that was basically 'character A introduces themself to character B by asking to split a meal' SOOO that's what kickstarted this whole mess

It was something that Lea had noticed throughout the years. A small, mundane detail, but one that had stuck with him nonetheless. Perhaps this oddly specific observation could be owed to past experiences, or maybe it was just a common trope he had seen and accepted as fact. 

In high-class restaurants, the lights were often dimmed. 

He was never really sure why. It was likely to help set the mood, and give the guests a relaxing or romantic atmosphere. But to Lea, it was just irritating. The soft light and flickering shadows caused his head to ache, and it was annoying having to squint down at the menu. He had eventually come to this simple conclusion: the fancier the restaurant, the darker the interior. And considering that he had felt the need to stand blindly in the doorway for two whole minutes while he waited for his eyes to properly adjust, he immediately knew this place was way out of his league.  
  
Lea drummed his fingers on the table, impatiently tapping out the rhythm to some pop song he had heard while waiting at the train station. It was nearly twenty minutes past their arranged meeting time, and he knew Ienzo was typically quite punctual. Lea had to admit, he was a bit worried. He glanced down at his phone. Still no response.  
  
Ienzo was the only reason he was here in the first place. Lea would never have dared enter such an upscale establishment on his own. He knew that just getting a reservation at a restaurant like this cost a hefty sum of money. Luckily, his roommate had already thought to take care of that in advance, so all Lea had to do was state his name at the front and an attendant had led him to their table.  
  
Lea was jolted from his thoughts when his phone buzzed loudly beside him. He looked down and sure enough, it was a series of messages from Ienzo.  
  
_ > good afternoon, lea. _  
_ > sorry, but i’ll have to cancel for today. there was an incident in the lab so i have to stay and deal with that. _  
_ > my apologies for the inconvenience. we can reschedule for another time. _  
  
Lea sighed. So that's why his friend had yet to show up. Feeling a bit dejected, he began to type out a response.  
  
_> Np, I get it _

_ > There’s a bit of a problem tho _

_ > I got sick of waiting and went in without you _  
_ > I'm already at the table so I can't rlly leave now _  
  
He only had to wait a few moments before his phone buzzed again.  
  
_ > hah. seriously? _  
_ > have a nice dinner alone, then. _  
_ > i know you usually don't do things like this, so if anything comes up and you need help just text myde or i. _  
  
Lea chuckled lightly. Ienzo knew him all too well. Still, he was an adult, so he should be able to handle things like this on his own. The thought of Myde in such a place was also humorous. Allegedly Ienzo had subjected him to enough fancy dinner dates to learn proper courtesy, but Lea would believe it when he saw it.  
  
_ > LMAO I'm not completely helpless _ _  
> But thanks. Good luck with your...lab drama_

_ > Stay safe _  
  
He felt a bit sad that he had to include that last part, but knowing the nature of his friend's major, whatever had kept him from leaving had to be serious. Dealing with chemicals could get pretty nasty, even with the proper precautionary measures. Lea tried not to think about it too much. Worrying about that now wouldn't help anybody. With another sigh, he set down his phone, picking up the menu that sat on the table. He scanned the list of available dishes, and did a double take almost immediately. He honestly should have expected it, considering the popularity of this place. Still...the prices were exorbitant. Just the appetizers alone were around 3,000 munny. The main meals were well over 5,000. Lea didn't even bother looking at the prices for drinks or desserts. He rubbed his eyes, feeling even more annoyed. He could technically afford to pay for the meal. But he wasn't exactly keen on spending the majority of the week's budget on a single, disappointing dinner alone. He was a college student after all, and while he wasn't entirely broke, he hated wasting money on anything but the necessities. Whenever he had gone on such outings with Ienzo, his roommate had been adamant about paying for the both of them. Lea protested at first, though he eventually learned to just accept it. But now, it seemed rather pathetic to ask his friend to pay for the meal. He was sure Ienzo would happily do so; it wasn't as if his family was pressed for money. However, Lea would feel bad asking him for something like that, especially when he was busy dealing with his own issues.  
  
Lea nervously glanced up. The waiter was making his rounds. He would have to make up his mind soon. He wondered if it would be considered socially acceptable to just order an appetizer. He really was clueless about things like this. He was about to resign himself to just take the hit and buy an entree, but he spotted something in the corner of the page.  
  
_ Couple's Lunch Special: 9,000 munny. Includes an appetizer, two entrees, and a single dessert. _  
  
Lea blinked. Compared to the prices of ordering everything separately, that was...a really good deal. He frowned thoughtfully. If only there was another person here with him. Then they could just split the cost of the meal, and get an entire 3 course dinner for around the same price as one entree. It was quite tempting, but Lea knew it was far too late to invite another one of his friends to dine with him. He had already been in the restaurant for almost half an hour, and the waiter was nearly at his table.  
  
Lea turned his head to anxiously look for the position of said waiter, since he still had no idea what he was going to order and should probably figure out how much time he had left to decide. He spotted the man standing a few tables away. So, not very much time. Lea was about to turn back to the menu, but he suddenly froze, gazing at one of the tables on the other side of the room.  
  
A dignified young man with striking blue hair stared back at him, meeting his gaze evenly. Lea sat there, seemingly paralyzed for a moment before he forced himself to break eye contact and turn away. That...was weird. Why was that person staring at him? Had it just been a coincidence? That was probably it, Lea decided. Still...it was odd to see another person here alone. This was a place typically visited by couples or groups of friends and coworkers. In fact, a quick glance told him that everybody else in the room was accompanied by at least one other person. He also took this as an excuse to steal another look at the guy. He had turned away now, and was instead typing something on his phone. Lea couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. So it was just a coincidence. Of course it was. Why would it have been anything else? Lea chided himself, shaking his head slightly. It's not as if the man was really here alone. He was probably still waiting on someone.  
  
But if he really was alone...  
  
This atmosphere must be getting to him. What was he thinking? Even if he was alone, that changed nothing.  
  
...On the other hand, the man had still been looking at his menu, so that meant he had yet to place an order.  
  
Lea realized too late where his traitorous brain had been leading him.  
  
There was no way. Why on earth would he approach a complete stranger, and ask to split a meal with him? It was out of the question. Even if he did ask, he would likely come off as a creep and cause a scene.  
  
...But those desserts looked amazing. And Lea was rather hungry.  
  
Damn it, why was he even considering this?? Lea shook his head in frustration. He wasn't going to get himself thrown out of a prestigious restaurant just because he spotted some cute guy who was also sitting alone.  
  
Wait, what? Lea resisted the urge to bang his head on the table out of sheer vexation. Instead, he leaned backwards in his seat, closing his eyes and once again attempting to think rationally about the situation. Several moments of intense pondering led him to the conclusion that his initial judgement of ‘cute’ had been an understatement. The man was drop-dead gorgeous, in a way that intimidated yet allured him.  
  
In the end, he didn't make very much progress on the menu situation. Lea jolted upright in panic as he heard somebody clear their throat beside him.  
  
"Ahem. Your order, sir?" The waiter peered at him with obvious disdain.  
  
Lea froze, drawing a blank. He briefly considered making a mad dash for the exit, but he shoved that temptation aside. Still, he never decided what to order, so he instead laughed nervously. "Ahaha...sorry, but I think I need a few more minutes."  
  
The waiter crossed his arms with impatience, and Lea regretted not taking the door while he had the chance.  
  
"...I see. I shall return shortly." The man bowed and turned away. His words were measured and polite, but Lea could tell that he was being an inconvenience. The restaurant was very busy, and surely there were others who had booked this table after him. He had been here for quite a while, and had declined ordering twice already while waiting for Ienzo.

Finally making up his mind, he pushed his chair back and stood from the table. Yep, he was going for it. Even if it ended badly, he would have a funny story to tell after the fact. He would just say something smooth, maybe one of the nerdy chemistry jokes his friend liked to torture him with. That usually worked. Half the time. Still, it was better than just waiting around feeling like an idiot. He crossed the room with purposeful strides, trying to ignore the hushed muttering and offhand glances earned from the other guests. Apparently leaving your seat in a fancy restaurant was a no-go. He’d have to jot that one down for future reference.

It took what felt like an eternity, but he finally reached the other man’s table. The agonizingly long walk of shame had done little to shake his resolve. Or so he thought. The pickup line he had prepared died on his lips as he was met by a fierce cyan glare. Well, shit. He could already tell that approach wasn’t going to work, so he went with a different angle. “Listen. I know I’m a total stranger, so sorry if this comes off as weird. But if you’re here alone, let’s split the lunch special.” There were several on the menu, but he had a feeling calling it the ‘couple’s special’ would get him punched. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad experience, all things considered.. He forcefully derailed that train of thought, and was struck by a sudden flash of envy for his roommate. Lea’s life would be a lot easier if he was into guys like Myde who were funny and easy to approach. Instead, he was stuck with the cold, terrifying type. Which had its own inherent benefits, but had ultimately been the cause of quite a few awkward situations over the years. At least he had built up a pretty helpful tolerance to rejection. Once again, he slammed the breaks on that tangent.

After his initial suggestion was met with harsh silence, Lea pressed on. If he was going to make a fool of himself, he wanted all in. “Look at the prices. It’s cheaper overall, so it would benefit both of us.” He felt like he was presenting a damn argument in court. But if that’s what it would take to win a totally-not-date with the guy, then so be it.

“Lauriam.”

The man finally spoke, but his words caught Lea off guard. “Excuse me?”

“You know Lauriam, correct?”

“Y..yes?” Lea felt what remained of his confidence fly out the window. Now he was just confused. And also hopelessly mesmerized by that wonderfully deep voice.

The stranger frowned, clearly puzzled at his confusion. Wow, this was going downhill quickly. “I was wondering where I recognized you from. Lauriam had a party, and showed me the photos. You were in them.”

“Oh! Yeah, I remember now,” Lea chuckled, and hoped it didn’t sound as forced as it felt. If memory proved correct, that was one of the wilder parties he had attended. Therefore, he was a bit concerned by the content of these aforementioned pictures. Pushing these worries aside he flashed a grin, casually sliding into the open seat opposite the mysterious man. “That was like half a year ago. How’d ya remember?” 

The raised eyebrow Lea received in reply was enough to confirm which set of photos had been shown off. He was hit by an instant wave of embarrassment. Biting back an instinctive curse, he averted his eyes. This definitely complicated things. It brought him a lot closer to his goal, but ruined the possibility of achieving it through conventional methods. Now that any chance of having a normal conversation had met a miserable death, maybe he should return to plan A. “I’ll assume you liked those pictures, then?” Might as well take advantage of this. It wasn’t as if he had any dignity left to lose.

After a beat of silence, the man gave a snort of laughter. “You’re bold.” In a surprising move, he extended a hand toward Lea. “You never bothered to ask, but I’m Isa.”

“Isa, huh.” He eagerly accepted the handshake. Now that was a name he could get used to saying. Short, sweet, and sharp enough to kill. “The name’s Lea. Got it memorized?” He couldn’t resist tacking on his signature line with a slight smirk.

Isa rolled his eyes. “As if I could forget.”

“You’ve heard of me?” He said it in a jokingly boastful tone, but Lea was actually pretty curious what sort of reputation (or lack thereof) he’d managed to earn around campus.

“No,” Ouch. “But now I can put a name to a face. Or rather--”

Lea cut him off there. “Give me a break, I get it.” The pictures weren’t even as bad as he was making it out to be. Just some shenanigans with a crop top. And a pool. And a speedo. And lots of dramatic poses. It was mostly for laughs anyways, so Lea didn’t mind too much that they’d apparently been passed around more than he’d anticipated. Still, he didn’t want to stay on this topic any longer than necessary-- at least not in public. “So. Lauriam is your..?” He was fairly confident that Isa was interested at the very least, but he wanted to be sure. He had never spoken much with Lauriam, but Lea had a feeling he wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted to piss off.

“..Roommate,” Isa finished, shaking his head in disbelief. He sighed, picking up the discarded menu in an attempt to distract from the slight blush that now colored his cheeks. Score. “You really aren’t subtle at all.”

“Not trying to be.” It’s not like there was a point. Still, he didn’t want to come off as nothing but a thirsty weirdo so he resolved to dial back the flirting a bit. For now. “So, what’s your major?” Lea grabbed the other menu. He had already decided on an entree, but now it seemed like the dessert section required his attention.

“Astronomy.” The answer was somewhat surprising, and evidently this showed. “Do I not look the part?”

He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. Lea took this opportunity to get another good look at him. He was wearing a muted purple vest over a white dress shirt. His steely blue hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. Lea felt underdressed, by comparison. He fiddled with the sleeve of his own checkered plaid shirt. “I dunno. A lawyer, maybe. Or an art student. Just hard to imagine you in an astronaut suit.”

“Do you also assume anyone attending law school is training for criminal prosecution?” Isa replied evenly, voice thick with sarcasm. “There’s more than one possible vocation for each field of study.”

“Point taken. Sorry for buying into stereotypes that society’s drilled into my skull since birth.” He could certainly play the sarcasm game. Bantering like that was fun, but he didn’t want to push things too much and seem like an asshole. He still barely knew the guy. “What are you gonna do then? Specifically.”

“Relativistic astrophysics,” he answered easily with a slight smile of his own. At Lea’s blank stare, Isa continued. “Essentially a hypothetical study focused on the theory of relativity and the implications it has on our knowledge of things like black holes and gravitational waves.”

Lea could barely wrap his head around the term or the explanation. He had asked for specifics, but he wasn’t expecting that level of detail. “Right. Time travel stuff.” He had played a sci-fi game once that mentioned something about black hole singularities, so maybe he wasn’t too far off. He felt almost ashamed to say his major, as it sounded far less impressive than a bunch of scientific jargon. “I’m going into performing arts. The goal is Broadway but who knows how far I’ll get.”

Isa blinked at him thoughtfully. “You’ll make it. You’ve got the charisma.” Those brief words of encouragement meant a lot more to him than he wanted to admit.

Their conversation was soon interrupted by the waiter’s return. Lea couldn’t help but give him a smug smile. “We’ll take the couple’s special.” Lea was no longer afraid to use the word, and instead relished the heated glare this earned from Isa.

\- - - - -

Everything was delicious, and Lea could now appreciate why Ienzo had picked this place. Despite the stuffy atmosphere and outrageous prices, the food was great.

“Why were you sitting by yourself, anyways?” Lea mumbled through a bowl of noodles.

Isa didn’t look up from cutting his steak. “Is it really so strange to for one to have a meal alone?”

“Yeah, in a place like this.” Lea took another look around the room, and was relieved to see that he was no longer being glared at for openly ignoring restaurant etiquette. “You know how hard it is to get a table here?” Actually, he didn’t. But it couldn’t have been easy, from what Ienzo had described.

“And yet you seem to have abandoned yours.”

“Guess that’s my good deed for the day. Now someone gets an early seat.” Sure enough, there was already another pair occupying the table where Lea had been seated before. “See, I do have manners.”

“Says the man talking with his mouth full.” Shit, was he? He’d been so caught up in trying to keep his wits about him that he’d barely noticed. But there was actually a hint of humor behind those words, not the disdain Lea had been expecting.

Naturally, Lea’s mind had already supplied quite a few potential rebuttals, but he deemed them all a bit too risque for this fine dining establishment and the even finer date(?) he’d managed to score. But that moment of hesitation didn’t go unnoticed, because now Isa was looking at him, and smiling knowingly, and oh god, was he really that easy to read? Or maybe Isa had picked those words to deliberately lead him into this. Which was totally unfair, but it’s not like Lea could call him out on it without also taking his share of the downfall.

Thankfully Isa was willing to save him the embarrassment of formulating an actual response to that, though not before a few agonizing seconds of silence. Yeah, this was definitely intentional. “To answer your question from before, I was meant to meet up with a..colleague. But that fell through.”

The way he chose a term with such careful detachment was a dead giveaway. “So you got stood up on?”

Isa actually looked surprised, and for a moment Lea wondered if he had overstepped. “I suppose you could put it that way,” he finally said. He didn’t offer any further details, and Lea knew better than to ask. “It’s not a big deal, I barely knew him.”

Lea was hit with a rush of satisfaction at the casual pronoun drop. As if there was any doubt at this point, but the confirmation was still nice. “Well, it’s his loss,” He looked down at his bowl again, nearly empty. The food here was fantastic, but the serving sizes were woefully small. At least Lea felt a little better about randomly approaching this guy. If he was already here for a date, that made this a little less weird. A little. Lea wasn’t a shy person by any means, but he wasn’t usually this forward either. But whatever this was seemed to be working out fairly well overall, so he couldn’t say he had any regrets.

“That implies it’s a win for you.” Isa had finished his plate as well, and was now leaning forward slightly, one elbow propped against the table and a fist lazily resting against his cheek. Which was probably considered awful table manners, but Lea wasn’t complaining in the slightest.

“Is it now? You tell me.” It was a loaded question and they both knew it. Lea held his breath in anticipation as Isa seemed to make a show of pondering the question, dragging out the seconds to leave Lea in suspense.

But suddenly his attention was drawn to a new platter being set between them, bearing the fruit tart they’d agreed on earlier. Their server was the same person Lea had spoken with before, and despite the awful timing he found himself stifling laughter at the poor man’s obvious confusion. Of course the waiter couldn’t say anything, but he did linger at the table for a few moments longer than necessary, no doubt trying to piece together what the hell had happened. Lea realized he should probably offer an apology of some sort for causing such a commotion, but just as the thought crossed his mind the waiter had moved on to the next table. Great, now he looked like an asshole. And not even the snobby rich kind.

“It’s fine. I’ll tip him well.” Isa was neatly slicing the tart in half, somehow achieving a clean line down the middle using only the curved edge of a spoon. 

Firstly, how the hell was he doing that? Second, how did he know exactly what Lea had been thinking? Well, that part wasn’t as much of a mystery. He’d always been told that he was an open book. And Isa had already proven himself to be quite apt at picking up on his reactions. “You? No, I dug this grave for myself. I can take care of it.”

“You’re at my table.” Isa stated as he lifted Lea’s half of tart onto a separate serving dish. If he was being honest, there was a part of Lea that had hoped they’d just share off the same plate. “So one would think that’s my decision to make, not yours.” As if to punctuate his words, Isa slid the smaller plate over to him.

Lea accepted the dessert with slight defeat. “Fine. I’m paying for my own side of the meal, though.”

“I never stated otherwise.” Isa picked up the spoon he used to cut the tart and took a careful bite. He looked almost dainty with that ornate silverware.

Meanwhile, reusing his fork from before Lea had immediately downed a quarter of his portion in a single generous mouthful. “Right, only true gentlemen take the whole bill.”

For reasons beyond his comprehension, Isa actually laughed at that. 

It was so unexpected that Lea almost dropped his fork. He hadn’t even made a joke, what on earth was so funny? Was he being mocked here?

He quickly brought a hand up to shield his mouth from view, but Lea knew he was still wearing that stupidly endearing smirk. “I’d argue the contrary.” It took a few seconds before Lea caught up to this twist in the conversation. Just what this dinner needed: another thinly veiled euphemism. To Lea’s credit, this one had been entirely unintentional on his part.

It was technically Isa’s lead-in, so Lea fully intended to capitalize on this. “Now _ that _ wasn’t a very proper thing to say. Could it be you’re actually a scoundrel in disguise?” He easily fell into the flowing, overly pompous tone he liked to employ when reading the parts of particularly melodramatic characters.  
  
“I’ve no idea what you’re insinuating.” Isa managed to keep a straight face for about three seconds, and it was almost convincing. Before long he was laughing again, and Lea soon joined him. Etiquette be damned, hearing Isa laugh was worth every single glare from the tables beside them.

As Lea scraped the last of the fruit goo from his plate, he realized that he no longer felt tense or awkward. Isa brought a spark of life into this stuffy atmosphere that made it seem a lot more bearable. He wouldn’t mind returning here in the future, all things considered. It could never beat a concert or a casual evening at a local Struggle tournament, but it was passable. However, Lea wanted something better than merely adequate for their next meeting. Assuming Isa would want to see him again. He should probably get that worked out. “This place seems too stuck-up for you, and it’s obviously not my speed. Anywhere you have in mind for next time?” He considered offering his own apartment, but decided against it. He was genuinely interested in the guy, so no need to rush things.  
  
Isa set down his spoon onto the now empty dish. “Making assumptions again, I see.”  
  
“Not without reason.”  
  
“I won’t argue.” Every time Isa smiled it felt like a prize well-earned, and this time was no different. “I’m available this weekend. I have work to do but I’m flexible.”

He’d actually managed to pull this off. Lea felt happier than he had in weeks. Somehow a chance encounter had resulted in mutual attraction that they were both willing to explore. “Let’s get coffee somewhere, then. And maybe lunch afterwards.”  
  
“One lunch with me isn’t enough?”

Lea was struck with genuine confusion at that. “Uh..it’s past 7:00.”

“And yet you talked me into ordering the lunch special.” Isa shook his head, looking quite smug. “Your argument was flawed from the beginning.”  
  
Lea mentally slapped himself. How had he overlooked something that obvious? Why hadn’t the waiter corrected him? Would they even get the meal at the discounted price?? Lea was more curious than concerned at this point. “You still agreed, smartass. Meaning you didn’t just do it for the food.”  
  
“The same could be said for you. Clearly, getting a cheap meal wasn’t your only intention.”

He couldn’t argue against that, so he held up his hands in mock defeat. “I guess we’re both guilty.”

“There are worse crimes to be charged with.” Isa shrugged, and Lea had to agree.

\- - - - -

In the end, they exchanged numbers and arranged to meet up over the weekend at a nearby cafe. He’d have to find a way to thank Ienzo for inadvertently setting off this new development in his life. Though he had only just met Isa, he couldn’t help but feel there was already a strong connection between them. They were complementary opposites in many regards, and this resulted in a nearly effortless flow of conversation that left Lea wanting more. He typically wasn’t one to get attached so easily, so it was rather alarming to already be caught up in something so close to sentimentality. He shook his head in bemusement, stepping onto the train for the brief ride home. Maybe that stupid romantic lighting had done some good for his head after all.

**Author's Note:**

> yes lea ordered a lunch special during dinner hours and somehow got away with it. himbo rights
> 
> also i'm on tumblr @saixy and twitter @1ucina, hi


End file.
